Keke Palmer has been diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and now is opening up about the struggles that come with it.
Sharing an unfiltered photo of her facial acne, 27-year-old Palmer revealed that she never knew her PCOS was the cause of it all along.
“Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome has been attacking me from the inside out my entire life and I had no idea,” Palmer captioned her Instagram photos. “My acne has been so bad that people in my field offered to pay for me to get it fixed. I tried EVERYTHING.”
The former “Good Morning America” co-host used prescription medication Accutane twice, changed her diet and drank plenty of water to no avail.
“I did all that, I ate all the ‘right’ things, my blood tests were fine. But it took ME taking a personal look into my family that has a history of diabetes and obesity, to understand what was ACTUALLY happening with me,” she continued.
Palmer called out the doctors who wouldn’t listen to her or take her seriously because she didn’t “‘look the part'” of a typical patient, so she took it upon herself to investigate her symptoms.
“I’m posting this to say that it’s okay and we can help ourselves. My skin has made me sad many nights but I do not give up on myself,” she shared. “I know this is not me and my body has been looking for help. I do not have a medical degree but I did the research and took what I learned to a doctor and that led them to a proper diagnosis.”
Palmer credited her family’s “fight out of poverty” for giving her the access to proper medical treatment, which made her want to share candidly her knowledge with those who might not have as much privilege.
“The least harmful thing PCOS can bring is acne. To all the people struggling with this please know you’re not alone and that you are still so f–king fine!” she concluded her message. “MY ACNE AINT NEVER STOPPED ME. But we don’t have accept this. Now I can really help KEKE! And I love her so it’s ON.”